20th anniversary service Friday for Sherry Morton, son Cedric

NORTHAMPTON — Members of the community will join tonight with family of the late Sherry Morton and her son Cedric to mark the 20th anniversary of their deaths.

Morton and her 18-month-old son were killed in their Florence apartment Jan. 11, 1993. The child’s father, Sean Seabrooks, remains in prison after being convicted of the murders.

Yoko Kato of South Hadley, the mother and grandmother of the victims, is hosting a graveside service led by the Rev. Peter Ives starting at 6 p.m. Friday at the Spring Grove Cemetery at 300 North Maple St. in Florence.

More than 100 people are expected to attend the service, including representatives of Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper.

Kato has traveled frequently to her native Japan to improve that country’s handling of domestic violence.

A post-service reception is planned at Packard’s at 14 Masonic St. in Northampton.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Twenty years ago this evening, a young woman, Sherry Morton, and her 18-month-old son Cedric were murdered by the boy’s father inside their Northampton apartment. Today, the Gazette presents the first chapter of “Resting Places,” an account of how one relative, Yoko Kato, faced the challenge of living without her daughter and grandson and in time helped bring …